Don, do you have any area's that are real sandy where you use these rods? Just wondering how they work in those conditions as i have a few spots like that and they are hard to stake down or use a drowning bag on as the smooth surface allows the bad to be drug back up and if you single stake the trap it's not going to hold.

Saw your set up on the other thread and thought id just start a new one so that one don't get too off course from it's original topic, lol.

If you use drowing rods corectly you don't have to stake or even drive the deep end Into the bottom. Build your rods with two places to stake on the bank end. I weld large washers about 12" a part on a 3/8" re bar and double stake, now the rod can't rotate back to the bank. The second washer Is welded off to the side.O-------O-----------+

Jackie, I dont think its meant to keep the beaver on the bottom but from reaching the bank. I would think the beaver would drown from the weight of the trap and drowning rod? Just a guess as I have never used anything but cable.shane

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When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there's no end to what you can't do.

round here its rocky bottoms, can only go in about a foot, little beavers no problem, medium beavers sometimes a problem and giant beavers are on the bank every time looking like a dog caught in the chicken pen, rod bent in about 10 ushapes, incredible destruction for a long was up and down the bank lol, the things work so well in muddy bottoms its scary, we drowned some last year in the run going to the castor mound hip boot high and no wider than 3 feet, water was ankle deep all arounf the little deep spot and they just worked that darn good, beaver getting them out and that suction that goes on here with any kind of a stake in mucky mud was only problems, took a come along to break the suction on 3 of them we had 2 foot into the mud.

I made 6 foot rebar stake with a cross bar welded on 18 inches up.......I stomp them into the sand of peat at a 45 degree angle away from my set (only as far as they will go not 6 feet).....no problems yet

J I just came in from the fur shed. I do use those rods in sandy bottoms and some soft mucky striper pit bottoms. Like Ky Boy said, I just shove them a little deeper. If I jhave a real soft bottom and top to anchor to, I use a 32 in. x 1/2 rebar stake. Like I mentioned before, I have had 2 beaver pull the rods out of the bottom. One was my fault and the other was a beavers fault. Also I use a lot of snares with these things and beaver can fight a snare a lot better than it can a steel trap. Make you a couple and try then, ifin ya don't like em , pitch them in the garbage.

Has anyone tried the barbed stake besides me? I made them for dams but i am finding it works great in sand and mud "so far"!..lol..I think it would hold better than a T stake. Wish someone else would try it just for feed back from different soils.It was intended for anchoring to dams but so far it has worked everywhere i tried it.shane

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When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there's no end to what you can't do.

I can see where It will hold but getting It back out WOW. I never had any problems staking or tying off at the dam. Just jam a heavy peel stick down and tie off close to the dam. Or weave your tie off through some poles In the dam and you should be good to go.

I have had a few twisted up slide rods but since I went to re bar It is at a minumum. And If they can't get back to the bank It's even less 3/8ths Is a minimum size for beaver. The longer the rod the more give It has It's kind of like a shock spring. The trap has to be well swiveled and lots of times I will add a weight like a tie plate or window weight to the trap chain to tire them out faster If I think they might pull the rod at the bottom end.